Psychosocial Support for People Living with Ambiguous Loss: Quantitative Evaluation of the Intervention Designed by International Committee of the Red Cross (Icrc)
Abstract
Arzu MammadovaBA, Azerbaijan University of LanguagesPsychosocial support for people living with ambiguous loss:Quantitative Evaluation of the intervention designed by International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)Dissertation adviser Rose M. Perez, Ph.D.This thesis focuses on informing knowledge on emotional and psychological challenges families of missing persons face in Azerbaijan and the role of the ICRC intervention in dealing with their emotional distress. The aim of the research is to critically evaluate the effectiveness of the ICRC intervention based on the quantitative pre and post intervention (pre-experimental) data collected from the participants. Methodology. The hypothesis was tested by employing pre-experimental research design based on Wisker (2008). In order to test the effectiveness of the intervention quantitative analysis was conducted on the existing data from the ICRC. This data was collected from 2012 to 2015. The quantitative data includes baseline survey among 1117 program participants before the program (T1), a follow-up survey at the end of the program cycle (T2). For a subsample, 104 program participants, two additional follow-up surveys were administered at six months (T3) and two years (T4) after the end of the program to facilitate evaluation program goals. Results. As expected, there were significant decrease on all measures. A t-test showed that on average, a comparison of the means of symptoms of anxiety showed a reduction of 48 % ( t-test value (p<.0001), a comparison of the means of depression showed reduction of 47 % ( t-test value (p<.0001), a comparison of the means of symptoms of psychosomatic problems showed reduction of 39 % ( t-test value (p=>.0001); a comparison of the means of distress related to the memories of the missing person showed reduction of 35 % ( t-test value (p<.0001); and a comparison of the means of daily functionality showed increase of 35 % ( t-test value (p<.0001). The results of T test (p-value) on the pre and post data show that the improvement seen in all the domains were statistically significant. Conclusion. This thesis concluded that, consistent with the theory of ambiguous loss on mental health, families find meaning in coming together to share their stories and pain, and this has a positive impact on their emotional well-being. As the result of these interactions, participants establish new friendships and gain social support, which improves their general emotional wellbeing, and significantly decreases their total distress levels.
Subject Area
Mental health|Social psychology|Individual & family studies
Recommended Citation
Mammadova, Arzu, "Psychosocial Support for People Living with Ambiguous Loss: Quantitative Evaluation of the Intervention Designed by International Committee of the Red Cross (Icrc)" (2021). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI28318137.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI28318137
